Redwood Valley FFA team wins state trap shoot

For a group of RVHS students sports includes a skill that requires speed, hand-eye coordination and split second reactions; the Redwood Valley FFA Chapter’s trap shooting team has demonstrated success at it.

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By Troy KrauseEditor

Redwood Falls Gazette

By Troy KrauseEditor

Posted Oct. 22, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Troy KrauseEditor
Posted Oct. 22, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Being involved in sports does not always include running down a field, bouncing a ball or hitting someone.

For a group of RVHS students sports also includes a skill that requires speed, hand-eye coordination and split second reactions.

The sport is shooting, and the Redwood Valley FFA Chapter’s trap shooting team, which includes Nick Woodford, Chad U’Ren, Jacob Schroeder, Tristan Durant and Dylan Ulferts, has demonstrated some success at it.

The success was evident in late September when the team competed at the state trap shoot held at the Redwood River Sports-men’s Club near Marshall.

At the end of the trap shooting portion of the competition, the Redwood Valley team had taken first place, with Woodford placing first as an individual.

According to Wood-ford, a trap shooting competition includes two rounds of shooting at targets, with 25 targets per round.

Out of the combine total of 50, Woodford scored a 46.

There were more than 250 students from chapters across the state competing.

The state trap shoot is an invitational, and one does not need to qualify by winning a regional contest to enter. Redwood Valley has been to the state shoot in past years.

“Shooting is different from other sports,” said Woodford, adding he enjoys it and has been participating for a number of years in both FFA and 4-H.

In fact, Woodford was one of several Redwood County 4-Hers who competed at the national level over the summer. That, he added, provided him with lots of practice time, as does participating in the local sportsmen’s club trap league each year.

In addition to trap shooting, the Redwood Valley chapter competed in sporting clays, which includes a variety of different shooting stations for competitors. The Redwood Valley team took 14th in sporting clays, with Schroeder placing 26th.

The final contest of the state shoot was skeet. The local chapter’s team placed fifth at the end of the contest, with Woodford placing 14th, and Durant, Schroeder and U’Ren tied for 24th. Skeet is intended to simulate the action of bird hunting with targets sent in various directions, sometimes two at a time.

Woodford said he uses a 12-guage shotgun in competition.

The team practiced a couple of times a week leading up to the contest and competed in other area invitationals to get ready for state.